was underneath to the podium on the side where a lot of senators were seated and was watching john mccain in particular, and the lines he applauded for, the lines he did not, you can look at that as portending what is possible on capitol hill. he applauded on a lot of the lines of the deficit and the mention of newtown and other issues, but notably on immigration reform, he just sort of sat there while other members did applaud. whether or not you can read something into that, i am not sure, but it is definitely an opportunity for reaction on the other side. host: to all of these issues we have been addressing the last hour, i want to look at something your colleague wrote in "the washington post." "if the president can reach a broad deal that settles some of the disputes over entitlement spending and tax code and govgiving the government borrowing authority to last through much of the term, he can use that energy to forge a bipartisan, rise on these other big issues to." guest: that is a huge point. one point that ms. mcconnell, republican leader in the senate, has made over and over aga